I am a lifelong student of the outdoors. I’ve lived in many different landscapes, learning land management on the high, dry plains of Wyoming and New Mexico; the tallgrass prairie of Colorado; and the black soils of Wisconsin’s farmland. I eventually learned it’s people that make the difference in managing ecosystems, and that’s the focus of my work today.

I work with farmers to help them reach their goals. Together we find approaches for grazing, growing crops, and marketing to make it possible to stay on the land. I remain amazed by the farmers and ranchers I meet who are committed to making things better and aren’t afraid to share their ideas. In turn, I pass those ideas along to others.

My wife and I live outside of Coleridge, in northeast Nebraska, where we have sheep and a large garden.

The 2008 farm bill introduced U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) first – and so far only – program focused on the next generation of farmers: the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. The Center for Rural Affairs was a leader in designing, writing, and winning the program. A new report documents the success of the program in offering training opportunities to new farmers and ranchers.

The report, “Cultivating the Next Generation,” was released by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition in October 2017 as the first evaluation of the program’s impacts.

New York's Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced that $1.25 million in funding is available through two grant programs designed to assist new and military veteran farmers across the state. The New Farmers Grant Fund helps new and early-stage farmers, and the New York State Veterans Farmer Grant Fund supports farms owned and operated by military veterans.

Prior to European colonization efforts, the Santee Sioux people in northeast Nebraska were a “food sovereign” nation – they existed in a closed loop system in which they provided for themselves, by their own efforts, from their own land, and without dependence on outside governments and systems. By producing and preserving their own food, the people ensured they had access to abundant sources of healthy food year round.